Unocal abandons McKinley discovery delineation well

Sugar Land, Texas, Nov. 30, 1999 - Unocal Corporation's Spirit Energy 76 unit said today that it has plugged and abandoned the delineation well it drilled at the McKinley discovery on Green Canyon block 416.

"While the McKinley appraisal well penetrated hydrocarbon-bearing zones, further drilling and study are unlikely to establish commerciality, and no further drilling is planned on the prospect," said Mike Bell, vice president of Spirit Energy's deepwater exploration program.

Unocal holds a 50-percent interest in the six-block prospect. Unocal expects to take a pretax charge of approximately $17 million in the fourth quarter 1999 for its net cost of the McKinley delineation well. The charge reflects Unocal's total investment in the project.

"Our participation in the McKinley well was part of a larger transaction that enabled us to acquire cost-free interests in other high potential prospects near Unocal's producing properties in the Destin Dome area," Bell said.

Spirit Energy 76, Unocal's U.S. Lower 48 exploration and production unit, has major operations onshore in Texas and Louisiana and on the Gulf of Mexico shelf and a significant presence in the Gulf of Mexico deepwater. Unocal is one of the world's largest independent oil and gas exploration and production companies, with resource development, power plant and pipeline projects in Asia, the U.S. Gulf of Mexico region and Latin America.

Forward-looking statements regarding expected charges, and exploration activities in this news release are based on assumptions concerning geologic, market, competitive, regulatory, environmental, and other considerations. Actual results could differ materially as a result of factors discussed in Unocal Corporation's 1998 Form 10-K report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.